Growing jobs big in Texas

posted at 11:57 am on May 25, 2011 by Ed Morrissey

A month ago, California legislators trekked to Texas to visit all the new jobs that didn’t land in their own state to figure out what went wrong. According to BizJournals, a few dozen other states might want to make the same trip. Over the last ten years, Texas has added more than 732,000 jobs net as the state withstood the worst recession in decades. The next best state, Arizona, didn’t even make it into six figures:

The inventory of private-sector jobs in Texas increased by 732,800 between April 2001 and the same month this year, according to an On Numbers analysis of new federal employment data. …

Texas avoided the real-estate bust that decimated the economies of several large Sunbelt states, including California and Florida, during the 2008-2010 recession. It consequently was positioned for a faster takeoff once the national economy began improving, allowing it to create 251,700 new jobs in the past year alone.

The runners-up to Texas in private-sector growth were Arizona and Utah, which added 90,200 and 90,000 jobs respectively, during the decade from 2001 to 2011.

Of course, Washington DC ended up 7th on the job-growth list — thanks to the federal government’s expansion at the expense of the states.

Which state did worse? Why, California, of course. They even managed to outstrip Michigan, where the downturn in the auto industry and collapse of GM and Chrysler threw tens of thousands out of work. Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey all round out the bottom five, all heavy manufacturing states. However, all of these states except New Jersey ranked in the top 10 for the most jobs added in the past year, with California coming in at #2.

What do Texas, Utah, and Arizona all have in common? They are all right-to-work states. Among the top five states, only Washington does not have right-to-work laws allowing employees free choice whether to join unions. Seven of the top ten job-growth states are right-to-work. The only right-to-work state in the bottom 10 is Georgia. Earlier this month, Jim DeMint issued a reportshowing the correlation between right-to-work legal environments and growth:

A new report from South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint’s office shows that right-to-work states, or states which prohibit forced unionization and dues payments, are economically outperforming states without the worker protection.

According to DeMint’s study, right-to-work states enjoy more new residents, more new businesses, more new jobs, and faster income growth.

The study shows that more Americans are moving to right-to-work states, causing states that force unionization to lose seats in Congress.

Texas has also worked hard over the decade to lower regulatory burdens and taxes on job creators. Rick Perry has made this one of his signature achievements, and he has repeatedly challenged other states to start competing with Texas on job creation. They have a long way to go before they can dethrone the champion, it appears, and most of them haven’t yet started to take the Texas approach seriously — which is nowhere more true than in Washington DC and the Obama administration.

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Comments

Oh Texas. You’re smug now. It wasn’t long ago that California libtards were clinging to a smattering of coastal cliffs and the GOP reigned with a velvet fist for 16 years. You’re gonna get Californiacated. COUNT IT!

For many years (groan), I used to have sales meetings/training on new medical equipment in SA with our managers coming in from MN, IN, and many more northern states and the 1st thing they wanted was some good ole TX bar-b-q. Guess where I took them?????? BINGO! Dang, my mouth is watering…..slobber…

Do y’all realize just how hard it is to find egg bagels here?
A former Chicagoan told me that they sell them at Einstein’s. Period.
And we won’t even talk about the lack of a good Chi-pizza joint, Panera Bread CO., or Potbelly Sandwich Works.
*sigh*

Do y’all realize just how hard it is to find egg bagels here?
A former Chicagoan told me that they sell them at Einstein’s. Period.
And we won’t even talk about the lack of a good Chi-pizza joint, Panera Bread CO., or Potbelly Sandwich Works.
*sigh*

I’ve heard Einstein’s is good .. but I’m not much of a bagel eater. I don’t know what to tell ya about the other foods…but you can go have a great steak at Cagle’s! Yum!

In Houston, we have the original Three Brothers (full on Jewish) bakery and every morning they have the fresh bagels, rye breads, etc. And it’s right across the street from where I’ll be! Wooooooooootttttt!

Texas does not have a deficit. The budget “shortfall” is the difference between the “wish-list” spending requests for the next two years and the comptroller’s projection of future revenues for the next two years. The legislature must resolve that difference. The Texas Constitution requires a balanced budget. Perry and the fiscally conservative majority in the House and Senate are leading the negotiations to cut those budget requests so taxes are not raised, and the rainy day fund is not raided to depletion. Yes, some cuts will be painful. But if negotiations are succesful, actual state spending in the next two years will be lower than state spending in the prior two years.

Reminder to folks not blessed to be here: Texas has no personal income tax. Our legislative sesion is short — just 140 days. And only every two years.

When I was in high school I spent the summer with my grandparents in Alabama. Here in California we always said “you guys” even when referring to a group of girls. My Alabama cousins found it hilarious when I used that expression. Al least “y’all” is gender neutral.

I’m glad to see everyone taking ernesto apart. 15 years ago hubby was offered two jobs, one in MI and one in TX. Pay and benefits were almost identical. Cost of living in TX–40% less. We chose TX and never looked backed. Another great part of Texas is that the state legislature only meets every other year.

I believe it. I’ve recently been looking for work. Found a job here at home thankfully, but during my search I included surrounding states, of which Texas was one. Without question, the number of listings in Dallas and Austin (where I was looking) far outnumbered those elsewhere I was looking, and the new listings each week outpaced those coming out of other cities. And this is just what is being listing on job board sites. Who knows how many more openings there are that never get listed.

The two most common complaints about Perry are the HPV vaccine and the TransTexas Corridor and promotion of toll roads. Those are pretty hard to defend. The HPV thing wasn’t quite as bad as it was made out to be. It had the easiest opt-out in the world. I can’t really defend the TTC. It was a stoopid, stoopid move. As for the other toll roads, well, I’m boxed in and can’t leave my city without taking one, which costs me over $100 /month. Not terribly happy about that.

Having said all that, I like Perry, have voted for him 3 times, and would support him for President. I’d rather he stay in TX and finish the job, though. I thought the same of Bush when he was here. He was a very good Guv.

Laura Ingraham Tip: Perry’s Running, Will Announce In the Next Few Days

ACE

freedomplow on May 25, 2011 at 1:20 PM

No! Not Dewhurst!! All you unemployed liberals and “moderates” forget all the great things said about Texas in this thread. If the above is true, Texas is going in the dumper with Michigan, Illinois and California under Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, so DO NOT MOVE HERE! We may be moving to YOUR state!
;-)

AUSTIN (May 24, 2011) — Gov. Rick Perry celebrated the passage of a law that requires doctors to conduct sonograms before abortions in formal signing ceremony Tuesday in Austin, saying the bill would save the lives of thousands of unborn Texans

Come to Texas, where you can get a low paying job and send your kids to the worst performing large school system in the nation.

ernesto on May 25, 2011 at 12:45

The reason the schools come up short on the ratings is from the large districts,Houston,Dallas,San Antonio.Look up Houston new boundary’s and the demographics.Three guesses what those are.Smaller towns and rural areas do quite well.Born,raised and live in Texas and nowhere else for me.

Excellent news. Incidentally, I saw Perry warm up for a certain lady from Alaska at an Austin pro-life event last year. He’s a great speaker – warm, funny, engaging. I think people will be pleasantly surprised on that score. I doubt very much that Obama would come off well in a debate against him.

Come to Texas, where you can get a low paying job and send your kids to the worst performing large school system in the nation.

ernesto on May 25, 2011 at 12:45 PM

Oh ernesto, you must be a HuffPo regular to be spouting that old talking point. The only reason Texas school “rank” is lower in some rankings is because they are so diversified. If you evaluate the scores broken out by race, Texas ranks better than the national average:

Texas students exceeded the national average for their ethnic cohort in all 18 comparisons in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) annual standardized test given to 4th and 8th graders around the country to measure proficiency in math, science, and reading.

Texas does not have a deficit. The budget “shortfall” is the difference between the “wish-list” spending requests for the next two years and the comptroller’s projection of future revenues for the next two years….
Reminder to folks not blessed to be here: Texas has no personal income tax. Our legislative sesion is short — just 140 days. And only every two years.

publiuspen on May 25, 2011 at 1:20 PM

AND, for the biennial term, legislators earn are paid $32,320 which includes 2 years salary and 140 days of per diem.

I’m sticking in Louisiana which has a miniscule income tax and even New Orleans has lower property taxes than anywhere outside of Louisiana.

However, if one lives outside of Beltway 8 in Houston, you get twice the home for half the cost as most other places. Land in TX is far less expensive than anywhere in Louisiana. There is darned much of it available that the free market makes prices low.

Corpus Christi is booming due Eagle Ford Shale drilling. Apartments and hotel rooms are scarce in South Texas, just as they are in North Dakota.

However, if one lives outside of Beltway 8 in Houston, you get twice the home for half the cost as most other places. Land in TX is far less expensive than anywhere in Louisiana. There is darned much of it available that the free market makes prices low.

Kermit on May 25, 2011 at 3:06 PM

A lot of that is due to the lack of land use restrictions that create artificial housing shortages in many other states. Fewer restrictions means land is developed to customer demand, rather than politicians’ fantasies.

Hmmm. Maybe it is time for an Aggie in the White House. (I’m class of ’79.)

We have more Fortune 500 companies than any other state. More jobs are being created in Texas than in all the other states put together. You cant argue with that success. Thanks to Over50 for smacking down Ernesto on his ignorant comment about the schools.

3 weeks ago I bought a Toyota Tundra, built in San Antonio, Texas by non-union Texans. It’s a GREAT truck, and last year Toyota pulled its Tacoma line out of CA and moved it to our Tundra plant.

According to the Center’s Metro Market Overview of the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metropolitan statistical area, government and educational and health services are the only sectors of the job market that experienced growth in 2009.

This has been the story during Perry’s term, he increased government spending by bigger percentages and thus government jobs, than the private sector.

Perry = Pawlenty, and all other RINOs….

Mcguyver on May 25, 2011 at 12:32 PM

That’s quite deceiving. Ft. Hood is the 2nd largest military base in the US so of course it would employ more people than the small towns that surround it. But That area is just a small part of Texas as a whole. I bet if they took into account all of Texas to determine private sector vs government jobs, you’ll find that there were more private sector jobs created.

It’s CRAWFISH and you are not from Louisiana you really know little about them.

Kermit on May 25, 2011 at 3:02 PM

When I was in kindergarten…in Park Forest, ILLINOIS there was a park near my school. That park had a creek running through it that had CRAYFISH in it. I know because I used to try-and fail I might add-to catch them.
Lighten up.

Come to Texas, where you can get a low paying job and send your kids to the worst performing large school system in the nation.

ernesto on May 25, 2011 at 12:45 PM

Ernesto, are you that freaking dumb? Yes, wages are lower here, but our cost of living is lower here. A $750K house in Los Angeles goes for about $120K in San Antonio. Gas prices are lower, food is lower, heck, even the booze is cheaper. We have no income tax, a reasonable property tax (no, really, check out other states’ property taxes) and regardless what you think, a school system that teaches kids to succeed, and not just suck, like Dem states do.

3 weeks ago I bought a Toyota Tundra, built in San Antonio, Texas by non-union Texans. It’s a GREAT truck, and last year Toyota pulled its Tacoma line out of CA and moved it to our Tundra plant.

juliesa on May 25, 2011 at 4:14 PM

My brother, who works at that Toyota plant in San Antonio thanks you :)

I have lived in Texas most of my life and there truly IS no place like it in the USA. I have tried other places and heaven help me I even tried moving to Chicaaago and fled within a year. Speaking with someone from Chicago was like getting machine gunned with words. Slow down, dammit! Is it a race out there to see how much of a bib full you can slobber to make a point?
As for y’all thinking about moving down here, don’t forget, we have rattlesnakes (and they are decent eating) and scorpions. Scorpions are ugly critters, but they only sting like a bee. They are not like other scorpions that are poisonous.
Y’all conservatives…. COME ON DOWN! Even those of us in the Austin area would welcome you!

High property tax is not the alternative to no income tax. I see this argument all the time, so I’m not directing this at you.

What we need is a state income tax that is a flat rate and everybody pays it with the caveat that those of us who pay property tax are allowed to deduct the lesser of the two from the higher and pay the difference. That way EVERYBODY pays to support the state and school system… and it’s not just carried on the backs of the property owners.. or we can change the constitution and only allow property owners to vote in state, county and local elections.

Texas Gal on May 25, 2011 at 12:38 PM

Gal, I see the argument that only property owners pay for school taxes all the time, too. It ain’t so. I’ve owned rental property for years, and my renters pay enough so that I make a profit. That means indirectly they’re paying property taxes, property insurance, property maintenance etc. They’re just paying it to me in the form of rent, and I pay the taxes for the property from that.

I’m going to have to change my moniker here. I just bought a new house that’s still under construction in Frisco TX (N of Dallas), to match the new job offer I accepted. It cost me HALF as much as the same house would have near Boulder.

Boulder Liberals (especially those lefty millionaires like Jared Polis have bought the press off), good luck with all the California liberals you’re attracting with Colorado’s pols turning the state into California II. And to the Colorado Country Club RINO GOP who botched the last 3 election cycles: kiss my conservative backside.

Texas here I come! I’m thinking about diving right in on the Michael Williams campaign for Senate. That’s the sort of candidate we could only dream about in Colorado. Yeee Haw!

Hey there’s an idea Cowboy, by the time you get your tax breaks … I ought to just turn my single dwelling house into a multi-dwelling commercial property and then I can get the same indirect tax rate as your tenants. Or as someone else suggested… I could just move.

Back to my original point, yes, it’s very nice to live in a state free of personal income tax, especially nice for those who do not own their own home and are free of the property taxes. The imbalance between those of us who pay property tax to support the state budget and those who don’t has reached a tipping point.

According to DeMint’s study, right-to-work states enjoy more new residents, more new businesses, more new jobs, and faster income growth.

Unless you’re Florida.

Also, the per capita income for Southern states is generally lower than those “up north”. Of course, the cost of living is generally lower…but the average salaries naturally go along with cost of living.